The call centre industry has been in the headlines over the last few months as various companies have considered overseas moves to cut costs.

However, despite publicity that companies are choosing to base their call centres as far afield as the United States and India, the UK industry is booming and companies are continuing to hire new staff.

Industry analyst Datamonitor said two British workers in every 100 - twice as many as in any other country in Europe - are employed at an estimated 6,000 call centres.

The number is expected to rise 50 per cent over the next five years and, by 2007, 470,000 people could be employed in the industry.

Sussex is well placed to take advantage of this trend.

About a quarter of all call centres are based in the South East and companies in the region are recruiting staff as they win additional business.

The centres are dealing with everything from 24-hour ordering services for catalogues and motoring organisations to customer services for the financial sector and hotlines for computer companies.

Inkfish, which has offices in Queen's Square, Brighton, is looking to recruit 50 people to join its expanding team.

The company came to Brighton just 18 months ago and has grown at an impressive rate, now employing in the region of 600 people.

It has taken on people from a wide range of backgrounds, partly because the nature of call centre business hours makes it suitable for those looking for part-time or flexible working.

It has even visited bingo halls in Brighton, Hove and Worthing to encourage older workers to join the company.

Steve Morris, head of operations at Inkfish's Brighton offices, said: "We are an Age Positive employer with a wide range of ages from school leavers, working parents and 'returners', right through to mature people in their 60s.

"The great advantage is that we can be pretty flexible on shifts. Lots of people want to work part-time and have family commitments around which their hours must fit. We can usually work this out."

He said: "If you like talking to people and helping them, you can have a great time. There's plenty of variety. You can be on a customer helpline one week and promoting a new product the next."

Lisa Whitaker, business development manager of Telegen which opened its Brighton call centre about three years ago, said the company was also recruiting additional staff.

She said the level of recruitment was dependent on what new contracts were won but said: "It's fair to say we're expecting substantial growth this year."

The company, which works across four main sectors, including telecoms, financial services and utilities, has grown from 12 part-time members of staff to about 350.